Research Challenges "Survival of the Fittest"

"Thus saith the LORD: The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest."

Charles Darwin popularized the phrase "survival of the fittest." Ever since, this idea that evolutionary change is driven by the necessity of survival has been essential to the idea of evolution. Evolutionists examine each feature of a plant or animal to try to determine why that feature evolved to help the creature survive. Researchers have modeled survival using two creatures with different features. Each feature gave the two creatures advantages over each other in differing situations. When conditions favor one of the creatures, it prospers, while the other suffers unless it evolves some advantage. While such simple models often appear in textbooks, such simplistic situations almost never happen in the real world.

In 1999, researchers in the Netherlands constructed a more complex model of changing conditions based on the real world. They examined phytoplankton populations where 20 to 40 species of algae and diatoms can exist in a cubic centimeter of water. They used a computer to model the various needs of each species and the resources available to them. And when one species thrives, it sets up the conditions for other species to thrive as it uses up the resources it prefers. In the end, who's thriving among the 20 to 40 species varies over time, but there is no deadly competition for survival.

Our survival depends not on the principles of survival of the fittest but on the provision of our gracious Creator.

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